Recent reviews by Vomit Inducer

Good concept but poorly executed. This would be a good game if it was more focused on comedy and building an antagonistic relationship with the narrator throughout the game. You could have allowed more player control in the story and created a sort of text based adventure that actually changed depending on your answers. Instead it shallowly focused on surface level politics and philosophy. It didn't even attempt to mix things up or evolve itself in any meaningful way. This was all around a waste of time, and I have refunded the overpriced game.

TLDR: The most accessible and experiment friendly FromSoftware game yet! 10/10!

This review has a focus on Elden Ring's freedom to allow the player to decide their own journey, not a critic of mechanics or "difficulty" as described by Dark Souls hard-ons or video-game journo's.

Throughout playing this game, it defines itself as a game that wants you to play it your way. Be it summoning, incantations, or what not; this game is, by definition, catered to any play style. From the beginning, I wanted to play a "Paladin" as per D&D class confinements, and not only does the game allow you to fulfill your every desire for difficulty customization, but it allows you experimentation with classes and builds better than any other game made by this producer. Compared to every other game made by Miyazaki, this is the most experiment friendly ever. I love changing up my play style on the fly! As to the freedom that is allowed by the open world, there is only one contender. LOZ Breath of the Wild was obviously an inspiration for the game makers and it shows in the best ways possible!

I understand that there are balancing issues in the final few areas and co-op and what not; but these inconsistencies are mere nitpicks. The scope and variation within the game itself is uncontested to be the most transcendent throughout the open world gaming experience. This game is truly a transcendent experience due to specifically the feeling of the journey.

Best rogue-like I've ever played.

ooh aah peepee go hard

Its good

Normal mode is fun. Expert mode is a bit boring though. other than that, great game.

TLDR: This game, in its most recent update, is akin to No Man's Sky in its release state. Lacking in depth and leaving much to be desired. 5/10 without mods. 8/10 with mods.

Positives:
-The gameplay loop of going to a planet, exploring, harvesting resources, and going back to your ship to craft new and interesting items is a fun loop.
-The lore dripped to the player through codex entries add depth and context to the worlds you explore.
-The art direction and atmosphere is enjoyable and just complex enough to make you feel like an explorer.
-The music is some of my favorite in gaming and I have had it in my playlist for years.
-The building gives the freedom to create what your imagination desires.

Negatives:
-The controls are slippery and sometimes unresponsive, making the moment to moment a chore.
-The game is terribly optimized and frame drops are a regular occurrence even on high-end machines.
-The story is overbearing and uninteresting. The lore provides enough context to the world and a sandbox game shouldn't have a story that is shoved down your throat.
-The variety of planets, dungeons, monsters, and biomes is too small. Every planet is some combination of one main biome, one mini-biome, one ore two dungeons, and the same 4 monsters over and over.
-The developer support is effectively none and the updates are deathly slow.

Final thoughts:
Starbound is only kept alive by the abundance of fantastic mods. Playing this game vanilla is a mystical experience at best and poisonously unfun at worst. If Chuckle Fish is able to create an amazing game like Stardew Valley then how does it let an infinitely more open game fall by the wayside. Starbound is an infuriating game, not because anything is atrociously bad, but because there is so much untapped potential. I'll still be playing this game for a long time, but if you buy this: USE MODS!

Its good